+ The course is placed within a lively county park. A wildly popular free zoo is within walking distance and deserves a visit if you can spare the time.
+ The tee signs show the distance and par but do not have diagrams of the holes because most baskets can be seen from the tee.
+ Very clean fairways. Rough areas seem well-managed, too.
+ Several satisfying water features.
+ The 'next tee' signs are prominent and dependable.
+ There are dozens of benches and trash cans all over the place. Please do not litter!
+ An ideal course to introduce the new player to the sport.

- There are five pairs of holes that share a basket. This results in some criss-crossing fairways. Just be vigilant of other golfers.
- Very pedestrian-heavy location with the zoo nearby. Picnic benches and pavilions are everywhere here. Overflow zoo parking can render some holes unplayable. I recommend playing before 10 A.M. when the zoo opens or after 4:30 P.M. when it closes. (The county park opens at 7 and closes at dusk.)
- The course topography is almost completely flat except for the raised basket at hole 10.
- The tee pads are loose rocks/gravel/dirt.
- A bit on the short side.

My favorite hole here was definitely hole 4 because of the two water areas the player must contend with and the tensely dramatic challenge of poking through the only window to the basket. My least favorite hole was hole 3. I will always feel uneasy throwing that close to a busy road.

As for the course as a whole, Cape May County Park is a decent park in a tricky situation. The grounds are very commonly visited by people for the zoo and other park facilities. During my session at 5 P.M. after the zoo had already closed, there were still plenty of folks all over the place walking the paths, grilling food, enjoying the sights and making good use of the park. It kind of stinks that the playability of a course is so heavily dependent on how many people are enjoying the other parts of the park- especially the zoo. With all of the pavilions, picnic tables and open grills, I wonder how playable Cape May would be during holidays.

The holes aren't too demanding as most holes are shorter than 300 feet and fall under the 'hybrid' classification-- meaning that they definitely have trees to deal with but the spaces between the trees are wide enough to make the course feel open, too. It's pretty flat from start to finish, and the lines are never too tough. All of that adds up to a course that feels aimed more towards newer players, which I think is great. Freshmen golfers need places to play as well!

Also, I loved the water features. They added a nice peppering of thought and planning to the course. I wasn't even mad about losing a disc to hole 15 because it was my own fault to begin with. The land was used as efficiently as possible, which explains why some holes have shared baskets. This is the first course I've been to that had something like that, but I suspect that the planners were under strict limitations from the park commission, which might also explain the natural-style tee pads.

In closing, CMCP is a course that has adapted to its situation as best it could. The heavy zoo visitor and pedestrian presence severely limits when people can play the full 18. But it's got some devious water challenges that I'll never forget. The short distances and light tree density don't add up to much, but that makes it the perfect course for those just starting out and players who just want a relaxing informal round.
So come play at Cape May (at the right time), bag some birdies, and then see some actual birdies at the zoo just next door.